Rosberg untouchable around the crazy streets of Monaco

The sound of the engines roaring and reverberating off the buildings of Monaco must be a particularly awesome experience, but to thread your car for 78 laps knowing you’re untouchable must be a supreme feeling.

Nico Rosberg was fastest in every practice session, took his third consecutive pole position on Saturday and was never headed on Sunday to secure his second Formula 1 victory. He looked absolutely dominant.

Sebastian Vettel got a great start, but Rosberg was already wise to it and cut him 

off and headed down to Sainte Devote in the lead with his team mate Lewis Hamilton safely behind having also headed off the Red Bull.

At first as the race slowly heated up it looked like Mercedes might have tyre issues again, as they almost cruised around in the opening laps making sure the tyres were kept as fresh as could be.

This became evident after contact Pastor Maldonado in the Williams pitted in the early stages and was lapping up to two seconds faster than the leaders. But this was all part of the plan, if you keep on line and inch your car into the right position it’s almost impossible to pass around these streets.

However, just as it seemed like a queue was forming behind the Mercedes they slowly started stretching their legs, their conservation work over and this became more obvious as some of the leading pack pitted. First Mark Webber dropped out of fourth place to get fresh rubber on lap 26, followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button a lap later switching from the super softs to the soft tyres.

Now tyre degradation was never expected to be that high in Monaco, it’s surface is less abrasive and the lack of fast corners ensure that the tyres are not over worked. Still, the fact that the early stoppers could barely lap any quicker than the Mercedes pair showed just how well they’d managed the tyres in the opening phase of the race.

In fact they went on for longer until lap 31, a lap later than Sebastian Vettel and just as the safety car made its first appearance of the season as Felipe Massa copied his accident from practice 3 into the barriers at Sainte Devote. This is when the race really got going.

The Mercedes had to pit both cars at the same time, Lewis was only a few seconds adrift of Nico so hung back in the pit lane to allow his team to reset themselves after servicing the lead car. But this didn’t work out for him.

The safety car had picked up the Red Bull’s but allowed them to pass as it was waiting for the leader to come round, they scampered around and just managed to get in front of Hamilton as he exited the pits. But for that, it would have been a silver arrows 1-2; although it wasn’t for lack of trying from Lewis that this wasn’t achieved. Webber was perfect as he kept the Mercedes behind.

Lap 46 and Max Chilton in the Marussia had Pastor Maldonado alongside into Tabac. The Englishman failed to see him and edged him into the Armco wrecking the techpro barriers too further along and causing Jules Bianchi to lose his nose. The Red flag came out to reset the barriers.

Rosberg had by now built up a four second lead ahead of Vettel, but again it was wiped out and again he had to lead a restart after all teams had taken the opportunity to switch to fresh rubber as is allowed under the regulations. For the second time he managed the situation perfectly, pulling away in the lead.

Lap 62 now and another safety car after Romain Grosjean who had hit the wall three times already this weekend now hit a car instead, wiping out Daniel Ricciardo as they battled for 13^th. The Lotus was almost launched over the back of the Toro Rosso coming down into the Nouvelle chicane.

Both were out with Grosjean once again having questions raised about his driving and a 10 place grid penalty for Canada. This incident meant Rosberg had to watch his lead get swallowed up for the final time. However, he made no mistakes and lead away again five laps later. He opened up a manageable gap yet again and responded when needed.

He was in brilliant form, and Mercedes boss Ross Brawn came on the radio to say he couldn’t have driven any better. In his home town, Rosberg took the chequered flag to win. He was absolutely ecstatic and deserves to be. No one got near him, he dealt with all the incidents that came his way including a near miss with a pigeon, managed the tyres and was fast when he needed to be; a thoroughly deserved win with Lewis Hamilton unfortunate to only come away with fourth.

Lewis has been complaining he can’t drive the car the way he wants to at the moment, especially on the brakes. Perhaps when he gets more comfortable in the car we’ll see things change but right now Rosberg is putting him under significant pressure.

However, Mercedes are racing under protest. It was discovered last night that Mercedes had been asked by Pirelli after the Spanish Grand Prix to perform a 1000km test to assess some new tyres, most of which are for next year it has to be said, and the team weren’t allowed to know which compounds they were using anyway.

Now in season testing is not allowed so some teams have taken exception to this despite it being ok’d by the FIA. Red Bull protested before the race and it remains to be seen if this will affect the race result, although if it’s been allowed by the governing body I don’t see why it should.

It shouldn’t take away from the Rosberg, but people will ask how Mercedes seemed so much better on the tyres at this race. My answer is they suffered from poor tyre wear last year too, and Rosberg could have won here in 2012, so how significant the test was remains to be seen.

Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez make the moves

Sutil and Perez really starred in today’s race making some brave and opportunistic moves. As they said in the commentary on Sky they were rolling the dice today. Unfortunately for Perez it ended up not paying off.

After handing a place back to Button, he later got him back again into the chicane, and then made another great move on Fernando Alonso into the same place. He tried his luck on Kimi Raikkonen but this time it ended his race.

It was a racing incident and I think Kimi was already making it clear that he was coming into the apex of the chicane out of the tunnel. As Perez went for the gap Kimi was there they clashed, leaving Kimi with a slow puncture and Perez with failing suspension and a damaged front wing. Kimi later said Perez needs to be 'punched in the face'.

It was still impressive and aggressive stuff from the Mexican and it was sad to see him retire from 5^th. This allowed Adrian Sutil into the top 5, who himself had made Loews hairpin, sorry Fairmont Hairpin, his passing place of choice.

Sutil effectively mugged first Button, then Alonso and was looking menacingly at the back of Perez before he retired. A decent result for the Force India, scoring his first points since Australia.

Championship contenders

Sebastian Vettel was the top finisher in the title race with second place. I found his race rather strange. The safety car gave him second spot, as I doubt he’d have challenged Lewis properly. And that’s kind of how it felt today, Vettel was just out there to secure some decent points. That’s fair enough really especially when your main rivals are not having good days, but I’m not sure it was Vettel’s choice.

The team once again told him to calm down as he set an outrageously fast lap in the closing stages, he said he did it for satisfaction and maybe to show he’d have liked to have fought harder for the victory. I’m not sure he could have, but it was decent points and he’s extended the gap at the top to 21 in front of Kimi.

Fernando Alonso ended up with 7^th and lost a lot of ground to Vettel. I thought Ferrari would be strong here and that they were about to launch a sustained attack for the top of the title race. The team said he had some debris stuck in the front wing which was hurting the aerodynamics, but in truth he never really looked like he could challenge and not even his usual brilliant self.

He was caught napping by Perez, Sutil and Button in the second half of the race and just didn’t seem to have the pace. Coupled with the strange incidents that afflicted Massa I think Ferrari will be investigating this weekend rather thoroughly.

Kimi Raikkonen had good race pace in practice but was always caught up in the pack, spending the large majority of the race in 5^th. After his Perez incident he found himself back in 16^th. He quickly made progress and with 2 laps left he was 13^th. Unseen by the camera’s by the time the race ended he was 10^th. I’d love to have seen his on board camera footage from that. He’s still within a race win of Vettel, but this would have definitely disappointed him more than usual.

It’s by no means certain that Mercedes will play a huge part throughout the year to come, but they’re certainly going to spring a surprise or two again at some point. It’s at those times the top three have to have good damage limitation. Today Red Bull did, Lotus and Ferrari did not. Sometimes it’s these results which win championships.

Rest of the top 10

Mark Webber looked strong this weekend, he certainly had the pace of his team mate but they was no room to pass. After the first safety car he ended up in the final podium spot and there  he stayed. It was a decent display but I thought maybe he’d have an edge on Vettel this weekend.

Jenson Button again felt his McLaren team mate Perez was being a bit too strong armed, but after a disappointment in qualifying with  a faulty fuel pump, luck swung his way in the latter stages and he made a nice move on Alonso to secure 6^th. At present, that’s a good result for the Woking squard.

Jean-Eric Vergne turned his best qualifying performance of 10^th into 8^th. He never looked really threatened and kept up the pace of the leaders well. A good showing after his team mate Ricciardo had looked to be gaining the upper hand.

Paul di Resta took 2 points for 9^th place. He should be very proud of the result; he pitted early anticipating a safety car which never came when Charles Pic’s Caterham retired. It meant he had clear air and when others pitted and safety cars and red flags enabled him to get fresh tyres he found himself in a position to take advantage of further incidents ahead of him. A strong drive after qualifying only 17^th.

Racing at Monaco and looking to Canada

Monaco is a special place to race, just watching the cars go through the swimming pool chicane is utterly mesmeric. Watching an on board lap is a thing of beauty. That’s why even when the race has yet to come alive it’s still a treat to see these cars race on such majestic streets.

Today’s race wasn’t exactly amazing in its first half, but this event is almost like a flat tour de France stage. You know you’re going to get the good stuff by the time the end comes. Today was no different, although perhaps it wasn’t exactly a sprint finish.

We now look ahead to Canada. Kimi and Alonso can’t afford to let Vettel get further ahead in the championship battle, but can Mercedes become a permanent factor in the title race? How much if any, did Mercedes gain from the Pirelli test? Will Pirelli’s apparent tweaks for Canada make any difference and will they even be allowed? And if Monaco can be this wild, then Canada is going to be amazing; lots to look forward to as we head to North America.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The Monaco Forecast

Here is a new column which will be put out every Wednesday before a race weekend. It will offer brief predictions for the event ahead in a sort of serious fashion. So here we go.

First of all, it will be bright and Sunny on race day according to the latest weather reports. Only 18C so quite settled conditions and nothing too hot for the tyres, which is always nice to know. Saturday looks cloudy, maybe a chance of rain which could make qualifying interesting.

Of course tyres are a tiring debating point, and no doubt we’ve done them to death. I believe my last three blog entries have been about them. Certainly we will have some chat about them especially as Pirelli’s proposal to go back to the 2012 tyres has been blocked by the FIA. But, I expect the Monaco weekend to not be such a major tyre talking point for the actual race. Monaco isn’t high on degradation, so hopefully we can put the tyres to one side for once this season and just go racing, Pirelli are predicting a 2 stop strategy which is enough on the streets.

Of course if tyre degradation is low, this could work for Mercedes, the team who love a good pole position but love it even more when they drop hopelessly down the field. Well they don’t like that bit but if often happens. If they can maintain their good one lap pace then, Mercedes stand their best chance so far of winning a race in 2013. Michael Schumacher set fastest Q3 time and it was one of Nico Rosberg’s best races last year, finishing a strong second place so there is a precedent set. Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton though? Too close to call, although I will call it and go with Lewis.

Rosberg finished behind Mark Webber last year, and it’s time for Webber to out-qualify his Red Bull adversary Sebastian Vettel and beat him. A winner here for two of the last three years, I see no reason why Webber can’t win again, and he needs to, he’s only 6^th in the a title race his team mate is leading and if he qualifies well he can even protect his predictable poor start fairly easily. Tyres shouldn’t be an issue, so it’s time for Mark to kick start his season.

Monaco is a place where a driver can more easily make a difference. You often hear how it’s in the slow stuff where drivers can make up the most time, and there’s plenty of slow stuff on these streets. I think McLaren will finally have a stronger weekend, both cars at least into Q3, and from there anything can happen. Watch out for Jenson Button in particular. They’ll also have to answer a lot of questions regarding their new partnership with Honda from 2015 and how that affects their current lover Mercedes. Designer Paddy Lowe has now been allowed to join Mercedes earlier than planned since the Honda link up was announced.

Williams also need to grab some points, being one of only three teams not to have scored this year. Pastor Maldonado is good around the Principality so he’s another one that could spring a surprise result.

Talking of surprises, this one wouldn’t be as Force India have produced a strong car so far this season and are one of the main beneficiaries from the tyre situation right now. If they can qualify well perhaps a podium for Paul di Resta or Adrian Sutil? I’m not just plucking this out of the air, they’ve had two 7^th placed finishes the last two years and are in much stronger shape this year, it’s certainly not inconceivable.

We all know Monaco is very confined, over taking is hard, there’s often queues on the opening lap especially down to the famous Fairmont/ Loews/ Station/ whatever hairpin. You’ll know it. We haven’t had a safety car yet this year, surely one is due and where more obvious than here. There have been 14 safety car periods in the last 10 years, so I think I’m fairly safe with this one.

So now we come to the championship trio of Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. Of these three who will have the best chance of adding to their Monaco tally’s? I’ve got to go with Fernando to be the most likely winner, he always goes well here, and despite the Red Bull domination of the past three years, I think he’s about to emerge as the possible dominant force over the next few races. 

I’m probably wrong, but I definitely expect Alonso to be winning a lot more than last year. Ferrari haven’t won here since 2001, they could have won in 2008 when Felipe Massa was leading (Massa would be a good outside tip for pole, he’s done it before and is good around Monaco) and 2010 when Alonso looked a level above everyone before he crashed in practice. I think this is the year for them.

Vettel will always be up there, but as I said I think Webber may be the lead Red Bull this weekend. Kimi will be somewhere on the podium and don’t rule him out for the win either. Lotus believe they may be able to unlock some more one lap pace to go with their brilliant race pace. However, wherever he ends up Kimi will be disappointed, such is life.

LAT, Sutton and XPB photo's taken from autosport.com, all others from planetf1.com 

FIA allow only minor changes for Pirelli

After much debate and complaining by teams such as Red Bull regarding the extreme degradation of the tyres, Pirelli announced they are going to revert back to the 2012 tyre construction by the Canadian Grand Prix, although the 2013 compounds will remain. However, the FIA have said only minor changes will be allowed for safety reasons indicating the 2013 tyres will stay.

I was going to write about how the apparent change by Pirelli should have been made at the end of the season. Teams such as Lotus and Ferrari have designed their cars to suit the tyres and it is hardly their fault if the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes have failed to do as good a job. 

Red Bull in particular has expressed their dissatisfaction with the tyres to a great extent despite winning two races so far this year. They are suffering because their car produces a great deal of down force, but they cannot exploit this as it degrades the tyres too quickly.

Over the last few days Lotus and Ferrari have aired their views that their cars are looking after the tyres better as they used the information Pirelli gave them of the 2013 compounds and designed accordingly. They see no reason to change especially after what looks like persistent lobbying from Red Bull, and after what were fairly perceived to be an excessive amount of pit stops at the last race in Spain.

In truth I’m sure all teams would have got a grip on the tyre situation by mid-season, Pirelli admit they’ve gone too far with the degradation, but there were similar headlines in 2011 and 2012 but by the end of the season there were many two or one stop races as the teams adjusted.

I think the reaction has been a bit much, although I would like to see more of a return to drivers being able to push a bit more without hearing constant radio messages about looking after the tyres. However a change such as this should be made for next year without upsetting the current competitive environment.

We also shouldn’t forget that Pirelli have done a great deal of good for the sport over the last few years which have produced a great deal of fantastic racing. So they’ve gone a bit far this season, but people are quick to forget that a few years ago there were plenty of races where there was no passing at all resulting in many follow the leader at a respectful distance races.

As I’ve written before looking after tyres, or fuel or whatever isn’t actually an unusual thing for Formula 1, it’s been like that most of the time, perhaps with the exception of flat out hard tyre refuelling sprints, even then you had to be mechanically sensitive.

Having said all that it has been reported on Autosport.com that the FIA has said the tyres will remain in 2013 specification with slight tweaks in regards to the tyre delamination’s that occurred in Bahrain and Spain.

Autosport says:  ‘The FIA is basing its stance on Article 12.6.3 of the technical 
regulations, which has also been cited by teams to Pirelli amid questions about the legality of a bid to change the specification.

The rule states: "Tyre specifications will be determined by the FIA no later than 1 September of the previous season. Once determined in this way, the specification of the tyres will not be changed during the championship season without the agreement of all competing teams."’

This will come as a blow to Red Bull, but bring satisfaction to Lotus and Ferrari. It looks to mean that any changes to the tyres will be minor and should maintain the current order and I think that that is only fair. Any further changes I would expect to be made if Pirelli renew their contract for next year.

This clarification by the FIA is to be welcomed, you shouldn’t just change the rules with barely a quarter of the season over.

It isn’t the best situation in the world, but it’s the one we’ve got and the teams who are suffering should be pushing harder to rectify their problems rather than constantly moaning about it.

It’s Monaco next and for anyone who's tired of tyres, they should hopefully be low on the agenda as it has a low degradation surface so they can concentrate on racing.

photo taken from autosport.com